Valentines Day, in Sikh Dharma

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Today is Valentines Day which for many is a time when people show their partner how much they love them and everything, and will show it with a card, flowers, chocolates, emails, texts, etc, etc. All restaurants will be booked for those romantince candle-lit "table for two" situations in the evenings, many will be going out with their partner to the cinema to watch a romantic film and whatever else these 'weirdos' want do to show their partner how much they love them. For some people they will also show their parents, relatives, close friends, etc. of how much they love them and care for them by giving them a card and gift today as well.

I don't know the history of Valentines Day and how or 'why' it ever came about, but it has been commercialised into a day where you have to show your loved one how much you love them and show them that you love them, on this particular day than any other day.

Now for Sikhs, Valentines Day means nothing just as Christmas, Easter, St. Particks Day has no signifance for Sikhs. However, the message of Valentines Day is about Love and that has a very high significance to Sikhs! Now for those of you who may not have known, February 10th was marked as the Shaheedee Purb of Dhan Dhan Baba Deep Singh Jee Shaheed. His Shaheedee gives Sikhs the message of Love that we need to aspire to. Many of you may be familiar with this Gurbani tuk from Dhan Dhan Sri Guru Nanak Dev Jee Maharaaj:

||ਜਉ ਤਉ ਪ੍ਰੇਮ ਖੇਲਣ ਕਾ ਚਾਉ ॥ ਸਿਰੁ ਧਰਿ ਤਲੀ ਗਲੀ ਮੇਰੀ ਆਉ ॥ (Sri Guru Granth Sahib Jee: Ang: 1412)
|| jou taou praem khaelan kaa chaao || sir dhhar talee galee mairee aao ||
If you desire to play this game of love with Me, then step onto My Path with your head in hand.

In this Tuk, Guru Sahib is telling us what the cost is of Love, which is to be able to give your head for that Love. Now the Shaheedee of Baba Deep Singh Jee is the shining and living example of the words of this tuk. There is no other record in history of a man so aged as babaDeep Singh ji and leading few sikhs against mighty army of Ahmed shah Abdali to avenge the desecration of Harmandir sahib . What was the force behind this man, which enabled him to be able to achieve this act. Simple... it was Love! Love for Guru Sahib, Love for Akal Purakh, Love for Matyrdom (Shaheedee), Love for his Bachan, Love for the Sanctity of Harmandir Sahib!

The essence of the tuk and to what it is saying is simply: If you want to show your Love for Me (Vaheguru) then come onto My Path and be ready to lay down your head for Me! Again, the living and shining examples of the meaning of this tuk are etched everywhere in our history. Countless unnamed Sikhs of our history have had to lay down their heads to be able to stay on this Path, and have done so without Hesitation. This shows how True there Love really is for Guru Sahib.

One of the greatest examples is that of Vaisakhi 1699 when Guru Gobind Singh Jee made the call for the head of a Sikh without any question. Again, those that had the above tuk from Guru Nanak Dev Jee etched into their hearts and souls stood up and without hesitation and surrendered their heads to Guru Sahib, only to be brought back to life to become the Five Beloved Ones (Panj Pyaarey) of Guru Gobind Singh Jee. Further examples of this Untold Love was shown and illustrated by those Sikhs that were hunted, beheaded and had their heads stuck on poles to be paraded around by the Mughuls in front of Auranzeb. For some it is a gruesome and hideous sight to see the heads of these beautiful Sikhs being put on poles.

The painting does not saddens me. This painting now shows to me the True Love these Sikhs had for Guru Sahib. These Sikhs weren't sad or hurt at having to be beheaded, they were glad to give their heads, this is what they had done anyway when they took Amrit, and now they had the chance to finally physically give their heads for Guru Sahib. It is an expression of Love from a Sikh to His Guru.

This painting, and all those many other paintings of Sikh men, women and children laying down their lives for Guru Sahib, should be seen as expressions of Love, not of anguish, pain and suffering. If you were to see the faces of these Shaheeds you will see none of them in pain, crying or moaning, they faces are glowing just as one does when the bride, having being separated for so long, finally meets and joins their Beloved Husband.

These are the Soul Brides who have now courted marriage with their Beloved Husband Lord (Vaheguru) and have merged into one with Him.
This is what the cost of True Love is. There is no other greater cost than to surrender your head and your life. This is the cost of walking on this Path. This is the cost of walking towards Guru Sahib. This is the cost of walking on the Path of Truth and Righteousness. This is the cost of playing the Game of Love. This is the cost of True Love. Can there be any other greater Love to pay this cost for?

In this world there are many kinds of Love: temporary Love, selfish Love, conditional Love, unrequitable Love, obsessive Love, passive Love, aggressive Love, etc. etc. But what is this Love that these Shaheeds expressed? What is this Love that costs you your head? Simple...

Unconditional Love! But not a Love that the western world would like us to perceive and believe. It is a Love that goes beyond all human imagination, beyond the Cosmos, beyond the Nether worlds. An Unspeakable and Undescribable Love that no poet or romance novelist could write about. A Love that not even Shakesphere could ever write or describe in the ('never could ever understand it') language of his! A Universal Love, which isn't Love for oneself, for your partner, family, friends, humanity, but a Love for ALL! For every single living existing thing imaginable! Wherever His Creation resides, Love for that Creation abides, for each Creation is all but just a little part of the Creator (Karta Purakh)! A Love that overflows the capacity of our human body and flows like rivers of nectar through the nine gates of the body until it then flows through the Tenth gate, by which Union with our Husband Lord is inevitable! This Love can only be found and taught by Guru Sahib through His Bani!
There is no other scripture in the Universe, which talks about Love at such a level beyond the Cosmos. Guru Granth Sahib Jee is the Ultimate Love Story. An Infinite Dialogue between a Soul Bride and her longing and yearnings to meet her Beloved Husband Lord and attain Union with Him.

If you were to go on to http://sikhitothemax.com (Gurbani Search Engine) and do a search for the word "Love", you will be amazed and shocked to see the countless and innumerable Gurbani tuks (lines) relating to the word 'Love' from our Beloved Sri Guru Granth Sahib Jee.

Let us commemorate this Valentines Day by showing our Love for Guru Sahib. Let us contemplate the sacrifices of Shaheeds like Baba Deep Singh Jee and try to imagine what Love they must have had for Guru Sahib. How ready would we be to lay down our heads in order to express our Undying and Unconditional Love for Guru Sahib?

When we 'metha taek' (bow down ) to Guru Sahib, are we mentally and spiritually as well as physically laying our heads down at the Lotus Charan (feet)of Guru Granth Sahib Jee? Do we truly surrender our heads to Guru Sahib when we 'metha taek'? Are we really ready to play this Game of Love, which has the cost of surrendering our heads? Is our Love for Guru Sahib True or not? If we were to give our heads to Guru Sahib, what to you think he would do for us? What would he give us in return for our heads?
What would he give us in return for our Love? Simple.... Infinite
Blessings..., which is all a Sikh, asks for?

Today is a day when people all over the world will be thinking of ways of expressing their love for their loved ones. Let this be a day when Sikhs can contemplate on their Love for Guru Sahib. Let the memories and pictures of the Shaheeds of our past be shining examples of the Expressions of Love of a Sikh for His Guru! The painting with the Sikhs heads being carried on poles shouldn't be looked at with saddened faces. Think of the poles with the heads of Sikhs on top as a bunch of colourful flowers being offered to their Husband Lord. Flowers for Guru Jee coloured with the colour of Naam. A sight, which is all too pleasing to Guru Sahib. A sight which would've brought a tear to Guru Sahib for the Undescribable sacrifice these Sikhs made to express their True Love for Guru Sahib. Let the Shaheedee of Baba Deep Singh Jee be recalled upon as the living example of that famous Gurbani tuk by Guru Nanak Dev Jee. Let us Love our Beloved Guru and Lord the same way as these countless, innumerable and unnamed Sikhs did in the past. Only through Gurbani and the Teachings of Guru Sahib Himself will we learn this ourselves. Only by following Guru Sahib can we learn about and be able to express the Love that is Infinite, Unlimited, Undescribable, Unspeakable, Untold of and Unconditional.

Let Valentines Day and every other day be days of constant expressions of this Love. Let the world be shocked to see just how much a Sikh Loves His Guru....

Satnam Sri Waheguru Jio

By Harinder Singh